Interpersonal Communication

CNA 210 – Spring 2010

What is Communication?Introduction to Communication Studies

2 Minute Paper What counts as communication?

Rich is watching the Bears game on

television. He is really into the game and does not realize his

wife is yelling in other room. She comes into

the living room and asks, “When are you

going to finish painting the

basement?” Rich replies, “Yes hun, I will

take out the trash when the game is

over.”

Sara is looking through her closet

for an outfit to wear on her date. She says to herself,

“I really have nothing to wear.” No one else was in

the room.

Jason is browsing through Facebook and he notices an old friend from Jr. High. He makes a

post on her bulletin board that asks what she has

been up to.

Tonya, having not slept the

previous evening, fell

asleep during her professors lecture on the

axioms of communication.

The field of communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and

media. The field promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.

Pragmatics of Human

Communication

Axiom 1

One Cannot Not Communicate

Axiom 2

Humans communicate both digitally and analogically

Axiom 3

Communication is both the content and the relationship

Axiom 4

The nature of any relationship relies on the punctuation

Axiom 5

All communication is either symmetrical or complimentary

You are a teacher and you have a student in your office. This student is the son of a friend of yours.

He was caught plagiarizing a paper. You call up your friend to discuss his son and he yells at you and claims that you are picking on his son. You try to explain the situation and how you caught him, but the father is not listening and continues to yell.

Group Work

Assignments for the Semester

• Discussion Leader• Individual Reflections• Research Abstract• Advice Column• Quizzes

For Thursday

• Read Chapter 1 – come to class with your definition of Persuasion.

TODAY’S REFLECTION PROMPT• Why is the study of communication important

to a developed and educated society?